


Prepare For Trouble

by 13Vivacious13



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (also no this is not a P/okemon au you guys it's just a catchy title), DotU Lance gets stuck in the VLD universe, F/M, Pidge is a teenage girl who notices how rugged DotU Lance is, but VLD Lance may get jealous, he is unimpressed, there is NOT going to be any Pidge/DotU Lance c'mon guys, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24122500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13Vivacious13/pseuds/13Vivacious13
Summary: There's two of them now, and one of them is older, rugged, and distractingly handsome. Pidge is having trouble focusing.Or: The Lions are made of a reality-bending meteorite and sometimes weird things happen.
Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 9
Kudos: 66





	Prepare For Trouble

Pidge looked at her teammates sitting around the couches. “Okay, I think I speak for all of us when I say: What the actual fu-”

Shiro slapped a hand over her mouth.

Sighing, Allura rubbed her temples. “I will admit, the situation is… odd.”

“You’re telling me,” Lance snorted and slumped back in his seat. He managed to pull off a look of boredom, save for the slight trembling in his hands. Honestly, Pidge was surprised he wasn’t freaking out more.

Hunk returned from the kitchen and handed Keith the Altean version of an ice pack. Wincing, Keith pressed it against the growing goose egg on his forehead. “Cheap-shotting asshole,” he muttered.

Hunk _hmmed_ in sympathy. “I still don’t get… how. Or why. Or- well, basically any of it.”

“Time travel?” Pidge suggested. It seemed like the most obvious explanation.

Allura nodded. “I’ve heard of such a feat before, though only in stories. Perhaps it’s only an elaborate illusion?”

“An _illusion_ didn’t sucker punch me in the head,” Keith snapped.

“I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere just sitting here.” Shiro stood and made for the door. “I’m going to ask him a few questions.”

Lance popped out of his seat. “Me too!”

Everyone hurried after him like so many ducklings as he headed for the holding cells. Their prisoner must have heard them coming because he was on his feet and in a fighting stance when they reached his cell.

It was still weird, especially when _their_ Lance was standing right beside them. Perhaps it was a glimpse into the future, or at least another timeline if his story was to be believed. Maybe he was just a doppelganger.

Pidge eyed him suspiciously. This imposter Lance glaring at them from behind the force field was older, closer to Shiro’s age, with broad shoulders and a sharp jawline. His hair was longer too, with thick bangs that nearly hid his eyes - which were identical to _their_ Lance’s eyes. Except for the anger, that was new.

Shiro rapped against the force field with his knuckles. “Who are you, and how did you get aboard the Red Lion?”

Fake Lance rolled his eyes. “I told you, buddy, my name is Lance McClain, and I’m a Paladin of Voltron. All I remember before ending up here is me and my team was fighting a Ro-beast. My lion got hit with some sort of ray, and suddenly some punk is in my seat.”

Keith scowled and folded his arms. “How do we know you’re not some sort of spy sent by the Galra? A weird, older…?”

“Clone?” Hunk supplied, his eyes widening with scientific curiosity and a bit of fear.

Keith snapped his fingers. “Exactly.”

“B-but wouldn’t they need my DNA to make a clone of me?” Lance interjected, squinting at his older counterpart (who raised a wry eyebrow). “How could they have gotten my DNA? I mean, I would understand if it was Shiro, they took his whole arm-” he paused to take a gasping breath.

“Lance.”

“-but how did they get _my_ DNA?!”

“Lance!” Shiro repeated, reaching out his free hand to lightly shake Lance’s shoulder. “Calm down.”

“I’m not a clone, by the way,” Other Lance deadpanned. “And these,” he held up his cuffed wrists, “are not appreciated.”

Hunk steepled his fingers together. “Would a clone made to infiltrate an enemy group by assuming another person’s identity _know_ he’s a clone?”

“How do _I_ know you guys aren’t part of some elaborate trick to get me to spill information about _my_ team?” Other Lance shot back. “Maybe I got captured in battle and this is some dream… mind manipulation…” he waved his hands in the air as best he could while they were still bound. “ _Thing,_ created by Haggar?”

Tsking, Coran pulled out a biomedical scanner and held it towards him. “Perhaps he’s not a clone, but there are plenty of races that can change their appearance.” The scanner beeped, and he deflated a bit. “Er, no, actually. He’s human.”

Pidge peered around Coran’s elbow. “Are you sure?”

“His vitals are within the same range as all of yours.”

After a quick check to make sure the scammer was properly calibrated, Pidge wrinkled her nose. “Maybe it is time travel.”

Other Lance shook his head. “I doubt it.” He jerked a thumb at Allura. “You don’t look anything like my team’s Princess, you-” he squinted at Coran, “…I’m not sure. You’re supposed to be dead-” his jaw tightened as he pointed at Shiro, “-and we didn’t find our lions when we were kids,” he finished with a scoff, glancing at the four younger paladins.

Hunk met Pidge’s eye. “Maybe Slav was right about those alternate realities.”

It wasn’t that far-fetched, theoretical physicists had been researching the concept for decades. Pidge frowned and looked Fake Lance over. His armor lacked the black undersuits they wore, the shoulder plates were more rounded. Even the helmet and belt were slightly altered, and not in the this-is-from-the-future kind of way, just… different.

There was a faint scar under his left eye, when he turned his head just right it gleamed silvery tan against his dark skin.

Other Lance smirked and winked when he caught her staring. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

Pidge scowled and looked away, only to see Lance - her Lance - eyeing her with a confused frown. “Wait, if you were in your lion when you got zapped, why did you end up in the Red Lion?” Lance asked, turning toward his doppelganger and freeing her from his stare.

Other Lance blinked. “Because… I’m the Red Paladin?”

Lance gawked for a second before throwing his hands into the air. “Perfect. I guess the Red Paladin has a crappy taste in hair no matter what universe he’s in.”

Keith and Other Lance glared at him.

Shiro and Allura did that thing where they held a silent conversation with only a few looks and gestures. “We’ll look into this further,” the princess decided. “If we find no reason to keep you detained, we will free you.”

Sighing, Alternate Lance sat down on the low bench that served as a bed. “Lucky me. Have fun with that, princess.” He shuffled until he was staring at the bare wall, the conversation clearly over.

* * *

Pidge spent the next few vargas combing over every inch of the Red Lion with her scanners. She managed to pick up a few trace signals that could have indicated interdimensional travel, but given the very weirdness of the lions themselves, it was hard to pick out what was new and what was just Red.

Not that it mattered one way or another. There were two Lances now, and they had to figure out what to do with this new - old? - version. Preferably, they could send him back to where ever he came from, especially since it seemed like his own team needed him… If he was telling the truth, that is.

“Do you think he’s lying?” she asked, fiddling with one of the knobs. The scanner’s screen went fuzzy for a second before sharpening back into focus.

Coran huffed and tugged at his mustache. “I don’t think he thinks he’s lying. I’m a rather good study of body language if I do say so myself, and I didn’t see anything to indicate falsehood.”

“…But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s telling the truth.” She handed the scanner over. “Do you mind taking over? I’m starving.”

The fridge was tragically empty. What with the near-constant missions over the past few weeks, Hunk must not have had time to restock his supply of quick snacks he usually kept available for just such an occasion. When she tried the food goo nozzle, it shuddered and whined.

Great. Jammed again. She would have tried fixing it herself, but bitter experience had taught her that the goo machine was finicky at best. Hunk knew more about how it worked than she did, she would ask for his expertise.

She found him in the training room. He and Lance were sparring with bo staffs while Keith took on one of the training bots.

“-I think you just don’t like the fact that Body Snatcher Lance has a mullet,” Hunk was saying, a teasing twinkle in his eyes.

Lance swung at his knees. “As heinous a crime as that is, that’s not why I think he’s shady. I mean, we put up with Keith, right?”

Keith sent Lance a dirty look before slicing the robot in half. It disappeared in a flash of blue light before a new one materialized ten feet away. It stood there, motionless, while he wiped his brow. “I think Lance might be right, for once.”

“Hey! …Wait, about your hair? Because-”

“The guy took a swing at me as soon as he appeared. If he’s really on our side, why would he attack me?”

Hunk fended off Lance’s blows and pushed him back. “C'mon, Keith, if you were teleported to another dimension, wouldn’t you punch the first person you saw?”

Keith opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“I rest my case.”

Lance snickered, and Hunk took the opportunity to swipe at his legs. Yelping, Lance flailed a few steps before tipping over and landing on his back, nearly at Pidge’s feet. The two locked eyes for a moment.

“I hope your double is better at hand to hand combat than you are,” Pidge commented dryly, reaching down to help him to his feet. Lance scowled and batted her hand away, sitting up with a soft groan and rubbing the back of his head.

“Whatever,” he muttered.

Pidge stared at the tense curve of his shoulders. She knew it wasn’t fair, Lance’s prowess with a rifle more than made up for any deficiencies he had in other areas of combat. (The fact that he’d learned so much so quickly with no prior experience was extremely impressive, and a testament to his natural talent, if she was being truly honest with herself.) There hadn’t been any malice in her teasing, no real intention to hurt his feelings, and Lance usually teased her right back. But today had been a weird day.

“What’s up, Pidge? Want to go a few rounds with us?” Hunk asked.

She shook her head. “The goo machine’s broken, again.”

A collective groan echoed throughout the training deck. Hunk tossed his staff to the side and rolled up his sleeves. “Just gimme a minute. I swear, as soon as we get back to Olkarion I’m gonna ask them to take a look at it.”

As it turned out, a gear had jammed. All it took was a bit of elbow grease to get it going again, and Pidge had a bowl of goo within ten doboshes. Hunk left to take a shower, leaving her in the kitchen with her meal. It was as unappetizing as ever, but she was too ravenous by that point to mind. She’d polished off a second bowl before her mind drifted back to the prisoner.

With a second bowl in hand, she wandered back to the holding cells. Maybe Fake Lance would be more talkative with a full stomach. It wasn’t like starving him would do much good anyway, she’d seen that stubborn expression - the same cold set of the jaw her Lance made right before he dug his heels in and stood… his…

Pidge blinked a few times just to be sure.

The cell was empty. Nothing had changed, the force field was still up, but there was no sign of Lance’s doppelganger anywhere.

“Sneaky son of a-” she hissed, letting the bowl fall to the ground and pounding at the control panel. It flashed red and the force field crackled dangerously before settling down. Pidge whipped out her datapad. Each cell and corridor had quiznacking cameras, how had he gotten out without Coran or Allura noticing?!

She pulled up the cell’s camera feed and sped through the last hour. The camera was positioned just above the doorway and panned the entirety of the small space. For the first thirty minutes, Alternate Lance sat on the bench, his head resting on his hands. He tried twisting his wrists this way and that, but Pidge knew from experience that Altean cuffs were built to mold to the captive’s wrists - an essential feature for a shapeshifting species. He stood up around the thirty-minute mark and paced up and down the cell, continually glancing at the force field. After another ten minutes, he approached it and rapped his knuckles against it before sidling over to the wall.

Pidge squinted. Because he was almost directly underneath the camera, Other Lance’s hands were hidden from view. He seemed to be fumbling with something, the wall? She glanced up at the cell and tried to gauge where he’d been standing.

…The wall right behind the control panel.

Right before the footage went dead, Other Lance looked up at the camera and _winked._

* * *

“He can’t have left the castle!” Allura barked, pacing up and down. “We would have been alerted if he’d taken a pod.”

Coran had pulled up all the security camera footage onto the screen and was pouring over it, his thick brows furrowed in concentration. “I will admit, it’s quite baffling,” he muttered.

Shiro turned to the team. “If he’s still in the castle, we’ll find him. Hunk, you and Keith go to the top floor and work your way down, Pidge, Lance, and I will start from the bottom and work our way up.”

“I’ll help Hunk and Keith,” Allura growled, grabbing her staff and marching for the door.

“As soon as he reappears, I’ll let you know,” Coran added, eyes glued to the screen.

Pidge reached the elevator first and tapped her foot impatiently until Shiro and Lance joined her. She jammed the button for the lowest floor with more force than necessary and pulled out her bayard. It crackled comfortingly in her hand.

“How did he get out?” Lance asked, edging away from her in an unsubtle fashion.

“I don’t know!” Pidge snapped. “I checked the security panel, and all he did was mess with the camera. Nothing he tampered with should have let him out. If anything, he made the force field stronger!” She puffed out a frustrated breath. “It’s official, Fake Lance is just as annoying as regular Lance.”

Lance’s offended gasp was drowned out by Shiro’s stern, “Pidge!”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Lance. I prefer you to your clone.”

His pout didn’t go away, and it only soured her mood more. As soon as the doors opened, Lance ducked out of the elevator and down one of the twisting hallways that made up the maintenance level.

“As soon as this is settled, you’re apologizing to Lance,” Shiro said, that I’m-not-mad-just-disappointed look on his face. He turned his attention to the other corridors. “I’ll take the middle, you take the left.”

Nodding, Pidge jogged down the left hallway. Because this part of the castle wasn’t part of the living area the lighting systems were on minimal power, casting a dull blue glow over parts of the hall and deep shadows over everything else. Her footsteps were slightly muffled by a thin layer of dust she’d never found anywhere else in the castle - well, except for the vents.

The first room she came to was little more than a closet, and from what she could tell its control panel’s main function was to regulate the temperature in the med bay. How many tiny rooms just like this were scattered around this floor alone? If Other Lance wanted to find someplace to hide, he had plenty of options.

 _“Any sign of him?”_ Shiro called over the comms.

 _“We just got to the observatory,”_ Keith replied. _“No sign of him yet.”_

 _“Hey, Lance, where would you go if you were trying to escape the castle?”_ Hunk asked.

Lance’s harsh sigh crackled through the comms. _“I don’t know how that’s relevant, seeing as we’re looking for a completely different person.”_ He went silent for a minute, and Pidge could feel him sulking. _“…But if it were me, I’d try to avoid being caught by the security cameras.”_

“Which is what he’s doing right now,” Pidge concluded. “Then what?”

 _“I dunno, find the nearest ship and take off? If I was separated from the team, I’d try to find you guys as soon as possible.”_ A low grunt and muffled “crap” followed. _“It’s so dark! I don’t think other me would’ve come down here.”_

 _“We have to be thorough, he has nowhere to go now that the hangar doors are- Coran, you locked the doors, right?”_ Shiro asked, his voice cracking with tension.

_“Of course I did! What do you take me for? A Turnalsian fendaw?”_

Pidge reached the next room and poked her head inside. Empty. _“A what?”_

Hunk chuckled. _“I think it’s comparable to a nerf herder."_

 _"What’s that?”_ Allura, Coran, and Keith asked at the same time.

 _“…That is so sad,”_ Lance whispered, genuine pain in his voice.

_“Guys, please focus.”_

_“Coran and the Princess I get, but Keith, c'mon dude-”_

“I think a movie night is in order,” Pidge suggested, somewhat apprehensive. The tight knot in her stomach relaxed a bit when Lance responded with enthusiasm.

_“Definitely! Great idea, Pidge!”_

She was too busy patting herself on the back - and trying to figure out how exactly they were going to watch a movie they didn’t have - to notice the dead end until she’d nearly run into the wall. Scowling, she glared at its smooth surface, interrupted only by a large vent. “Well, he isn’t hiding out in this hallway,” she muttered.

_“Same.”_

_“No sign of him in the observatory.”_

_“Alright. Lance, Pidge, let’s move to the next floor.”_

It took an hour of searching to confirm the escapee wasn’t hiding in the bottom five floors. When they regrouped with the rest of the team on the bridge, Pidge was covered with more than her fair share of dust bunnies and fit to be tied.

“This is insane,” she muttered, rubbing her temples.

“We could try scanning for heat signatures,” Coran mused, “But if he’s anywhere near the generators we won’t be able to spot him.”

“Sonar?” Hunk suggested, sitting down in his chair. Lance flopped on top of him with a low whine.

“Mmm, perhaps?”

Pidge sighed and took a few steps back, just enough to fully be engulfed in a stream of cold air coming from the-

Oh, _duh._

She pulled up the cell footage again, ignoring Other Lance’s actions in favor of examining the large vent positioned above his bed. Sure, it’d be a tight squeeze for him, but it also explained why none of the other cameras had caught him sneaking out.

If Lance’s theory was correct - and she had no reason to doubt otherwise, it was the most rational course of action for any escapee - Fake Lance was heading for the shuttle pods. Three main ventilation shafts branched off to the hangars, even if he had no clue as to the layout of the castle, he’d find them soon enough.

“Guys…”

* * *

As soon as she’d pointed it out, Pidge had known where she’d end up. The shocked looks, Shiro’s quick command, and Hunk boosting her up toward the nearest grate had happened in precisely the order she’d expected. She’d forgotten just how big the vents were, she barely had to bend over in the largest ones.

Unbidden, the memory of Sendak’s attack made her stomach swoop and tightened uncomfortably, and she had to remind herself that this situation was _different_. Allura and Coran were fully in control of the ship, the team wasn’t separated by an energy barrier, and Lance wasn’t comatose and slowly dying because she wasn’t fast enough- wasn’t clever enough to outwit two trespassers and a couple of sentry bots-

 _“He’s not in the pod bay,”_ Shiro said, followed by a muttered _“yet”_ from Lance.

Pidge gulped down a breath of cool, dusty air and peered around a corner. The shafts to either side of her were clone-free.

 _“He’s not in Red’s hangar,”_ Keith added, his voice sharp and quick and frustrated. Pidge could imagine the impatient furrow in his brows as he waited with his bayard drawn for Other Lance to appear and try to steal the Red Lion.

_“Any sign of him, Pidge?”_

Irritation cut its way into her reply, despite Lance’s rather valid question. “Give me a second, jeez. I’ve almost reached the hangars.”

He didn’t say anything, and she wondered just how much she’d have to apologize for by the end of the day.

 _“Does anyone else think it’s creepy that he might be watching us right now?”_ Hunk whispered. _“Like, just waiting for us to turn our backs before he- What was that?!”_

Pidge paused, straining to hear whatever Hunk had heard over the comms. After a few breathless seconds, he sighed. _“Allura, please tell the mice it’s rude to sneak up on people.”_

_“They’re just trying to help.”_

A small squeak at Pidge’s feet nearly sent her tumbling, instead, she ended up banging the top of her head against the vent ceiling. Tiny Chulatt wrinkled his nose and squeaked again, scampering a few feet ahead before turning to look at her. He waved his tail impatiently until she did so, nearly running to keep up with him as he turned the corner and disappeared down a side vent. “I think the mice might know where he is,” she panted.

 _“Where are you headed?”_ Shiro asked.

She pulled up a map of the castle’s ventilation system. Another quick turn by Chulatt left her frowning. “Not toward the hangars…”

 _“Where else could he go?”_ Coran sounded as confused as she felt. _“Not the generators, I hope!”_

She enlarged the map. “I don’t… Wait- oh! He’s headed for the starboard airlocks!”

Chulatt squeaked and flicked his ears, the mouse equivalent of an eye-roll.

She heard Shiro and Lance’s footsteps through the comms. _“We’ll meet you there. The rest of you stay where you are in case he doubles back.”_

The starboard airlocks were some distance away from the hangars, and the quick sprint it took to get there, hunched over in a semi-permanent crouch, left her thighs burning. Chulatt reached the vent grate first and crouched, pointing with his tail just as Coran’s hushed _“I see him!”_ reached her.

Peering down through the slits, Pidge saw Alternate Lance standing before one of the airlocks, his foot tapping in staccato rhythm as he fumbled with the panel. His arms were still bound by handcuffs, and the muttering in his breath sounded suspiciously like a string of curses.

_“We’re almost there, wait-”_

She didn’t wait. Alternate Lance barely had time to flinch before she’d dived out of the vent and tackled him to the ground. His hands were trapped under his stomach, leaving him with little choice but to wiggle indignantly until she pressed the edge of her bayard to his neck and he stilled.

“Hey, kid,” he huffed, sounding more like a babysitter annoyed with a child’s antics than a prisoner with a sharp object near his jugular. “Fancy meeting you here?”

“How did you disable the camera in your cell?”

Other Lance cranked his head back just enough for him to look at her, an impish twinkle in his eye. “My Pidge taught me a few tricks.”

Pidge quirked her lips. “Your Pidge?”

“Yup.” He winked. 

“What-?” She had to pause and clear her suddenly dry throat. “What were you trying to do? How would jettisoning yourself into space without a ship help?” 

“Well, you see-” 

“Pidge!” Shiro’s voice rang out from around the corner. 

“Over here! I’ve got him!” Pidge took her eyes off of Other Lance for a second, just to see Shiro sprinting around the corner with Lance right behind- 

He jabbed Pidge hard in the midriff with his elbow, knocking the air out of her lungs and sending her tumbling off of his back. She rolled into a crouch and saw Other Lance jump to his feet just in time to dodge Shiro’s first punch. He bobbed and weaved, staying just out of reach until Shiro backed him into a corner. Shiro swung at him, his metal arm blazing, and Other Lance held his hands up to shield his face. The sizzle of plasma against metal burned into her nose. She and Shiro watched in dumb amazement as the handcuffs he’d accidentally sliced through clattered to the floor.

Other Lance smirked. “Thanks, buddy.” A vicious right hook sent Shiro flying. 

“No, thank _you._ ” A stunning bolt from Lance’s rifle hit Other Lance in the chest - dead center. His eyes rolled back and he toppled over like a puppet with cut strings. 

Lance grinned as he helped Shiro to his feet. “Gotta be honest, I’ve been wanting to do that all day.” 

* * *

She checked the cameras one last time before calling it a night. Alternate Lance was sprawled across the hard bench as if it were a king-sized bed, his manacled hands dangling over the side. He might have fooled anyone looking at him into thinking he was already asleep, but Pidge found his heavy, too even breaths to be suspicious.

Well, hopefully shackling his ankles to the bed would keep him out of mischief for the night.

Her eyes lingered on his broad shoulders, the flex of muscle in his neck when he rolled over. He was, she had to admit, rather handsome. This Lance had grown out of his bean-pole physique a long time ago, and Shiro’s black eye was a visceral testament to his strength. 

She turned off the tablet and shoved it under her pillow before burying her face in her hands. 

“Stupid,” she grumbled. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not continue this. It currently stands well on its own as a one-shot, but I have... ideas.


End file.
